The Drumhead (episode)
A Starfleet admiral zealously searches for a traitor on the Enterprise. Summary On stardate 44769.2, the dilithium chamber hatch exploded aboard the ''Enterprise''-D and sabotage was suspected. The retired Admiral Norah Satie was brought in to investigate. She was able to uncover one spy, a Klingon exchange officer named J'Dan, who was quickly hustled away. After further examination, he was shown to have injected himself with DNA encodings of vital information, supposedly when he was being injected to treat a condition. However, Satie was still unsatisfied. She believed he could not have acted alone, and that he was also responsible for the dilithium chamber accident. Thus began her inquiry into the activities of nearly every officer aboard the Enterprise. She publicly questioned the loyalty of the entire command staff and would not stop. When she began to question Simon Tarses, a young crewman who worked in the medical lab, she pointed out he falsified his entry form to Starfleet by claiming he was part Vulcan. He was, indeed, a quarter Romulan. This convinced Captain Picard that this was nothing more than a witch hunt; the boy's actions were in violation of regulations, but this did not convict him of the crime, except in the mind of those watching. After numerous attempts to delay or suspend the investigation, the admiral called Captain Picard himself before her inquiry board, with Admiral Thomas Henry observing. She followed a line of questioning citing every flaw in his performance, and thus Captain Picard cajoled her into revealing that she was on a witch hunt. When he stood up and calmly stated the principles of the Federation, she launched into a tirade about its enemies. At that point, Admiral Henry ended the inquiry by leaving abruptly. The crew, especially Worf, learned a valuable lesson about the importance of the need of vigilant protection of freedom and justice. It turned out in the end that a subtle manufacturing flaw in the dilithium chamber hatch was to blame for the explosion. Log Entries * Captain’s log, stardate 44769.2. For some weeks we have had a Klingon exobiologist on board as part of a scientific exchange program. Unfortunately, we suspect that he was involved in a security breach and in the possible sabotage of our warp drive. * Captain’s log, supplemental. Retired Admiral Norah Satie whose investigation exposed the alien conspiracy against Starfleet Command three years ago is arriving to assist in our inquiry. * Captain’s log, supplemental. Admiral Thomas Henry, who has worked closely with Norah Satie in the past, has arrived to observe the hearings. Memorable Quotes "Sir, the Federation does have enemies! We must seek them out!" "Oh, yes. That's how it starts! But the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think. Something is wrong here, Mr. Worf. I don't like what we have become!" : - Worf and Picard "'' ' With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.' Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning… The first time any man's freedom is trodden on we’re all damaged." : - '''Picard' quoting Judge Aaron Satie "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then! Before you can blink an eye, suddenly it threatens to start all over again." : - Picard, to Worf "Mr. Worf, villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged." : - Picard "'&ellip; she, or someone like her will always be with us – waiting for the right climate in which to flourish. Spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mr. Worf: That is the price we have to continually pay. " : - '''Picard', to Worf Background * The events of , , , , and are referenced in this episode. * This is one of Michael Dorn's two favorite TNG episodes, the other being . http://gaming.trekcore.com/finalunity/dorninterview.html * This is the second appearance of the interrogation room set after . It is a modification of the bridge of the original [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] as seen in the first three movies. *This is the only time in the run of the series that the inner isolation door in main engineering is seen; normally the outer door is seen after a warp core breach. *A long time extra, Ensign Kellogg, played by Cameron is finally named in this episode during Worf's briefing with his security officers. *Both the [[unnamed Excelsior class starships#Henry's transport|unnamed Excelsior-class starship]] and ''Oberth''-class starships seen in this episode are not named in the episode or the script. The identification of the Oberth-class as [[USS Cochrane|USS Cochrane]] is derived from the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. *This episode is reminiscent of Senator Joseph McCarthy's Communist witch hunt hearings. Links and References Guest Stars *Spencer Garrett as Simon Tarses *Jean Simmons as Norah Satie *Bruce French as Sabin Genestra *Henry Woronicz as J'Dan *Ann Shea as Nellen Tore *Earl Billings as Thomas Henry Co-Starring *Cameron as Kellogg (uncredited) *Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace (uncredited) *Michael Braveheart as Martinez (uncredited) *Tim McCormack as Bennett (uncredited) *An unknown actress as Bailey *An unknown actor as Marcus References amino acid; Ba'ltmasor Syndrome; Bailey; Battle of Wolf 359; beard; Betazed; Betazoid; blood; Borg; ''Cochrane'', USS; communicator; Constitution of the United Federation of Planets; Crewman; Cruces system; Delb II; deoxyribose suspension; dilithium articulation frame; dilithium chamber; dilithium chamber hatch; drum; drumhead trial; Earth Station McKinley; elm; emergency confinement field; encephalographic polygraph scan; Excelsior class; exobiologist; Federation Uniform Code of Justice; hyposyringe; interrogation room; isolation door; isolinear optical chip; judge; Kellogg; Klingon High Council; lemon; Marcus; Mars Colony; mass spectrometer; matter-antimatter reaction assembly; medical technician; microtomographic analysis; Mogh; neural parasite (24th century); neutron fatigue; ''Oberth''-class; Officer Exchange Program; optical chip reader; outpost; petaQ; Prime Directive; protein; Qo'nos; radiation; roach; Romulan; Romulan Neutral Zone; Satie, Aaron; sabotage; security clearance; Seventh Guarantee; shuttlecraft; spy; starbase; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Security; sub-micron fracture; Tarkanian; tea; T'Pel; United Federation of Planets; Vulcan; witch External links * * |next= }} Drumhead, The de:Das Standgericht es:The Drumhead nl:The Drumhead